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Tariffs, taxes duties--?

I've contacted 2 Chinese companies about buying another Fiber laser. Neither can give me any estimate whatsoever about duties and tariffs, that I need to contact our customs dept, oy...

so I found this online:hts.jpg
it's a screenshot of the harmonized tariff schedule, page 70 of 125, to do with laser engravers...
at the right are columns 'rates of duty', and we have a "1" column of 2 columns, "General" and "Special"...
At the far right is a simple column, "2", with a scary "30%" listed...

what I can't find anywhere is information as to exactly what these percentage numbers actual mean or refer to?

Well, in Fiji they mean you pay duty of 3.5% (of the value of the equipment) and then you pay another 30% of the value plus the 3.5% duty. They compound it here.

Longtai 460 with 100 watt EFR, mostly for fun. More power is good!! And a shop with enough wood working tools to make a lot of sawdust. Ex-owner of Shenhui 460-80 and engraving business with 45 watt Epilog Mini18.

Rob
That has not been my experience with Trotec and I've been using Trotec for about 12 years. I don't know of any company that will permit modifications and still honor warranty but repairs are not generally categorized as modifications.

Just to be fair Mike, in 49 years of owning dozens of New Hermes/Gravograph machines, what little customer service I HAVE needed has been no less than very good to excellent...but I know your experience with them was terrible. I'm sure Trotec has their moments too...

Kev
My remark was in response to what appeared to be a statement of Trotec policy relative to repairs. I am not aware of such a policy.

On Gravograph---I just bought one, knowing full well that service doesn't exist. I bought an IS400 because, after I sold my Newing Hall I missed that fun of doing diamond drag engraving. The Gravostyle software is a monster and I may not have enough years left to learn it but, like all Gravograph machines, this one is solid as a rock.

In theory, tariffs are designed to take the incentive out of buying overseas. For example, if we put a heavy tariff on Chinese steel 30 years ago, theoretically we'd have more steel mills in America right now. People would be indirectly forced to continue to buy US steel and it would have saved the industry (again, theoretically).

So the question is: Do the tariffs on lasers take the incentive out of buying a Chinese machine? Are they stopping you from buying a Chinese machine so you can buy an American made one? Do the new tariffs simply stop you from buying a machine all together to expand your business?

If you take your Ford or Chevy to an independent repair shop and have them rebuild your engine, do you think the dealer will help you get it running for free? They'll work on it but it won't be for free. Not sure why that's a surprise.

If it's under warranty, why would you have an independent mechanic work on it?

Without getting political, we could just buy American for 12 times the price....

It would be nice if there were enough American manufacturers to offer options for industrial, pro, and hobby customers. If there arenít, it will likely throttle growth and raise the price of entry. Currently, tariffs artificially limit choice for some, and attempt to force consumers to change behavior.

not trying stir up anything, honest, but the worlds largest open pit copper mine (Kennecott) is 8 miles from me, and the cost of union labor all but closed the place down, it cost them more in labor just to excavate than China and others charged for finished product. If it wasn't for all the gold and other stuff they keep digging up the place would've closed years ago. And within spitting distance of 'my' boat harbor used to be Geneva Steel, at one point the largest steel mill west of the Mississippi, producing 60% of the country's steel...Closed in 2001, no longer able to compete. There's an old Silver mine (Mercur) that closed a LONG time ago, a few folk attempted to resurrect the place a few times, last time was sometime in the mid 90's, but they soon closed up...

Some things just can't be brought back from the dead. Tariffs sure as hell aren't going to...

And I've searched high and low for a USED fiber laser, all I can find are worn out megawatt cutting machines. All new ones that are sold from the US are either shipped from China, or have been shipped from China, with prices hiked to cover the tariffs AND so-called 'customer service'.

Meanwhile, I guess I'll stay in 'wait mode', until I actually find a used 50w galvo fiber, or the asinine idea that tariffs will HELP anyone in this country finally gives way to common sense (not holding my breath for the latter...)

I'm in the same boat Kev, I've been looking at fiber lasers for a while. The prices had been going down so much that they'd be within my (mostly hobby-level) budget pretty soon, but suddenly the prices went way back up again, putting them back out of reach. For me, it's not "buy American or buy Chinese" it's "buy Chinese or buy nothing."

I know a business could probably still make the costs work, but the unfortunate reality is that machines must pay for themselves. The tariffs will just make manufactured goods more expensive to compensate for the more expensive machines, meaning customers end up paying for the tariffs.